What were the best off-track moves of 2012? Here’s a look at the decisions that grabbed the biggest headlines:

1. Kenseth to JGR

Matt Kenseth shocked team owner Jack Roush when he told Roush on June 19 that he wouldn’t return to Roush Fenway Racing in 2013. Roush was stunned. While he knew his team still had to sign Kenseth for 2013, he didn’t realize that Kenseth was about to sign with another organization.

This, after all, was Matt Kenseth, a driver who had driven all but one of his 451 Cup races for Roush. They had won 22 races together, including the 2012 Daytona 500, not to mention the 2003 championship, and would win two more races before the year was over.

But Kenseth was unsettled without firm sponsorship at Roush, and when JGR contacted him with an offer to drive The Home Depot car for 2013, he visited the Gibbs shop and opted to make the move.

JGR had failed in its quest in recent years to sign Kasey Kahne and Carl Edwards. Kenseth is the first big-name driver it has signed from another organization since Kyle Busch, who already had been told that he wouldn’t return to Hendrick Motorsports when Gibbs signed him in 2007.

Kenseth’s arrival deepens the talent pool at JGR and keeps Kenseth as a legitimate championship contender.

2. Bowyer, Martin to MWR

MWR announced in 2011 that it had hired Clint Bowyer as a full-time driver for 2012, Mark Martin as a part-time driver and Scott Miller as competition director.

The result? They built on improvements already in the pipeline for a breakout season.

Bowyer won three races on his way to a second-place finish in the standings. Martin Truex Jr. had his best season at MWR, making the Chase and finishing 11th in the standings. Martin posted four top-fives while Brian Vickers had three while sharing the No. 55 car.

The success allowed MWR to re-sign sponsors NAPA and 5-Hour Energy to contract extensions, in addition to an extension for Truex.

3. Bristol track changes

After a lackluster crowd and a race with little of the traditional Bristol Motor Speedway action in March, track owner Bruton Smith opted to grind away the progressive banking in the top groove of the half-mile track.

Smith’s idea was to create two tight grooves—one by the apron and one in the middle of the track—to create tighter racing and, in theory, more contact and more wrecks.

There were two grooves in August, but it was a middle groove and an upper groove. The result was an action-packed race that included a little bit of everything, including angry drivers (Tony Stewart throwing his helmet at Matt Kenseth’s car, Danica Patrick flipping the bird to Regan Smith) and a lot of passing. Oh, and Denny Hamlin won the race for his first win at Bristol.

4. The 2013 Sprint Cup car

Only time will tell whether this belongs on the “best moves” list or the “worst moves” list, but from what we know of the new 2013 car, it at least is better to look at.

NASCAR, its teams and the manufacturers spent most of the year developing the new car and began testing it late this year. Created to give manufacturers more brand identity, the new Ford Fusion, Chevrolet SS and Toyota Camry bodies are slick racecars that seem more attractive to fans.

How will they race? We’ll tell you at this time next year.

5. Grubb to Gibbs, Hamlin

Grubb knew he was out of a job when he won the 2011 Sprint Cup title as Tony Stewart’s crew chief. Shortly after the season, he opted join Joe Gibbs Racing as crew chief for Hamlin.

The duo showed that it was a good move. Hamlin, who won only one race in 2011, won five in 2012 and entered the Chase as a serious title contender. The only problems were some uncharacteristic errors in fuel mileage and communication that thwarted them periodically during the season and caused them to stumble in the 10-race playoff, finishing sixth in the final standings.

6. House OKs military sponsors

It wasn’t an overwhelming vote by any means, but the U.S. House of Representatives voted 216-202 in July to allow branches of the military to continue to sponsoring NASCAR teams.

While the U.S. Army already had announced that it wouldn’t return to Ryan Newman’s Stewart-Haas Racing car, the vote kept another key sponsorship—The National Guard with Dale Earnhardt Jr.—in place.

While the Senate would have had to vote to ban military sponsorships for it to become law, it was good for NASCAR that it didn’t have to face another critical debate.

7. NASCAR re-signs Fox to big deal

NASCAR signed a deal with Fox that is expected to be worth an average of $300 million a year for the 2015-2022 seasons. The previous eight-year deal with Fox was for an average of $220 million a year.

The tracks, which get 65 percent of the television money while 25 percent goes to competitors and 10 percent to NASCAR, will now have a steady stream of revenue no matter the economy or ticket sales. That is key for the tracks, which primarily are publicly traded companies.

For teams, it means a possible increase in purse money.

For fans, it means that the first 13 races of the season will be on Fox or Fox Sports 1, the new network Fox is expected to unveil in summer 2013. NASCAR, baseball, college football and UFC likely will be the anchors for the new channel, which is expected to replace Speed.

The deal also gives NASCAR negotiating leverage as it works on re-signing the rest of its TV package with ESPN, TNT and other networks that might be interested, which means the sport likely will have a much bigger TV package in 2015.